On June 8, officials from the Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) arrested two persons and seized 1,140 kg of dry ganja at Pedabayulu mandal. The SEB learnt that that the ganja was being transported to Chhattisgarh via Odisha.
In another incident on June 6, the teams seized 900 kg ganja near Jerrela village of G.K Veedhi mandal.
Officials said this was an indication that ganja smugglers are beginning to slowly resume their activities in the Agency area of Visakhapatnam district, in the wake of the lockdown being lifted in phases across the country.
In a span of three days, SEB officials seized nearly 2,040 kg of dry ganja, which is estimated to be worth over ₹2 crore in the black market. Officials said that the prices of ganja would have gone up sharply now, owing to the unavailability of the contraband during the lockdown.
“A kg of ganja is bought for ₹1,500 to ₹2,000 in the Agency, and the same is sold for much higher prices in other States. The lockdown may have increased the rates by up to 30%. In the recent cases, we have nabbed only local smugglers. If the smugglers were from other States, we would have been able to ascertain more details about the demand and price hike,” said an SEB official.
Apart from these, between May 18 and June 4, 739 kg of ganja was seized by both SEB and the district police in five more cases. Seventeen people were arrested in these cases.
“Not just inter-State borders, but district borders also were closed for over two months. There was no entry for vehicles except for those transporting essential goods. Now, inter-State vehicle movement is being allowed and the smugglers are taking advantage of this,” an official from the SEB said.
He said that though vehicle checks are being conducted at a few entry points, smugglers are aware of routes that lack proper enforcement. Officials suspect that the smugglers might have been using the Vizag Agency-Odisha route to shift contraband towards Chhattisgarh, for which surveillance has been stepped up.
Surveillance in city
Assistant Commissioner of Police (City Task Force) A. Trinad Rao said that they are ramping up enforcement in the city over ganja smuggling. Since the lockdown, we busted a ganja racket in which 200 kg of ganja was seized. The smugglers who were stuck in the city with the ganja were nabbed, he said.
“Generally the smugglers use trains for transportation if they try to smuggle the contraband from the city. But due to restricted train movement, such activities have come to halt in the city limits,” said a police officer from the city.
